The Small Business Administration on Monday released a list of some of the businesses approved for federal payroll protection loans, and a lot of prominent Chicago-area companies received funds to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.
From museums and restaurants to law firms and supermarkets, nearly 4,000 Illinois businesses and nonprofits were approved for PPP loans worth $1 million or more, according to SBA data, which was published online. Others received smaller sums.
The Brookfield Zoo, Cubs’ sponsor Sloan Valve, Willow Creek Church and Baird & Warner are among the 255 Illinois organizations with PPP loans between $5 million and $10 million — the most allowed under the program.
Other well-known Chicago-area companies approved for at least $1 million in PPP loans include Rosebud Restaurants, Pete’s Fresh Market, Steppenwolf Theatre and Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The SBA released the names of more than 660,000 businesses nationwide that received PPP loans of $150,000 or more. That represents a fraction of the more than 4.9 million loans approved during the program, as the names of borrowers under $150,000 were not released.
The list is notable for its breadth and diversity, emblematic of the widespread economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the statewide stay-at-home orders that have disrupted business since March.
In addition to the Rosebud group, Chicago-area restaurants approved for $1 million or more in PPP loans include Buona Beef, Eataly, Home Run Inn, City Winery and the Purple Pig.
A woman walks in front of the Crescent Garden, which contains flowers with colors conducive to pollinators at the Bees and Beyond exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Garden on July 23, 2019, in Glencoe. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd Aquarium are among the museums that received the $1 million-plus PPP loans.
The Chicago Botanic Garden, Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier, Morton Arboretum and the Joffrey Ballet are among other cultural destinations that received loans.
Also receiving them were media companies including public TV station WTTW-Ch. 11, public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald.
Real estate development companies including Lincoln Yards’ developer Sterling Bay, Oxford Hotels and Inland Real Estate Investment Corp. also received $1 million or more in PPP loans.
Chicago’s Admiral Theatre, which sued the SBA for allegedly shutting adult nightclubs out of the PPP program, was approved for a loan between $350,000 and $1 million last month.
Launched April 3, the federal paycheck program offers businesses with fewer than 500 employees forgivable loans of up to $10 million to cover eight weeks of payroll. The initial $349 billion in funding ran out in less than two weeks, with many smaller businesses shut out, as banks allegedly prioritized larger clients ahead of mom-and-pop businesses.
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That led to a number of class-action lawsuits and pushback from lawmakers and small-business advocates, pressuring some “larger” small businesses like Ruth’s Chris, Shake Shack and Chicago-based Potbelly to give back their loans.
The $310 billion second round of PPP, which began April 27, focused on smaller businesses, but demand fell off amid concerns about loan forgiveness. Last month, Congress approved legislation making the terms more flexible, extending the covered period to 24 weeks and reducing the portion of the loan that must be used for payroll to 60%.
When the program expired June 30, the government had approved nearly 4.9 million loans worth more than $521 billion, with an average loan size of about $107,000. In Illinois, the SBA approved 202,143 loans worth nearly $22.5 billion, with an average loan of about $111,000.
The SBA reopened loan applications Monday, extending the deadline through Aug. 8 in an effort to distribute the remaining $138 billion in funds.
